Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement

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written by N. G. Holmes and Carl E. Wieman

Many introductory physics labs include goals related to learning about measurement
uncertainty or error propagation. In this article, we present evidence from a new survey about experimentation and modeling in physics labs indicating that student difficulties with these concepts may stem in part from the language used. We demonstrate that students conflate measurement uncertainty, systematic effects, and measurement mistakes under a single umbrella. After a course that explicitly distinguished these three terms, students' paid more attention to precision and sources of random variability, rather than systematics or experimenter mistakes. We use this preliminary analysis to evaluate the survey as an instrument to assess learning in physics labs.

2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College
Part of the BFY Conference series
College Park, MD: July 22-24, 2015
Pages 44-47

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Published: November 17, 2015

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education Foundations - Assessment = Instruments - Communication = Language = Representations - Research Design & Methodology = Evaluation General Physics - Measurement/Units	- Lower Undergraduate	- Reference Material = Research study

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Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1119/bfy.2015.…
Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:: American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:: 10.1119/bfy.2015.pr.011
PACSs:: 01.40.-d; 01.40.G-; 01.50.Qb
Keyword:: BFY 2015
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created November 17, 2015 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: August 6, 2020 by Sam McKagan
Last Update when Cataloged:: November 17, 2015
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=13803">Holmes, Natasha G., and Carl Wieman. "Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement." Paper presented at the 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, College Park, MD, July 22-24, 2015.</a>

AIP Format

N. Holmes and C. Wieman, , presented at the 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, College Park, MD, 2015, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13803&DocID=4223).

AJP/PRST-PER

N. Holmes and C. Wieman, Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement, presented at the 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, College Park, MD, 2015, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13803&DocID=4223>.

APA Format

Holmes, N., & Wieman, C. (2015, July 22-24). Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement. Paper presented at 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, College Park, MD. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13803&DocID=4223

Chicago Format

Holmes, Natasha G., and Carl Wieman. "Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement." Paper presented at the 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, College Park, MD, July 22-24, 2015. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13803&DocID=4223 (accessed 25 April 2024).

MLA Format

Holmes, Natasha G., and Carl Wieman. "Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement." 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College. College Park, MD: 2015. 44-47 of BFY Conference. 25 Apr. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13803&DocID=4223>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Natasha G. Holmes and Carl Wieman", Title = {Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement}, BookTitle = {2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College}, Pages = {44-47}, Address = {College Park, MD}, Series = {BFY Conference}, Month = {July 22-24}, Year = {2015} }

Refer Export Format

%A Natasha G. Holmes %A Carl Wieman %T Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement %S BFY Conference %D July 22-24 2015 %P 44-47 %C College Park, MD %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13803&DocID=4223 %O 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College %O July 22-24 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Holmes, Natasha G. %A Wieman, Carl %D July 22-24 2015 %T Assessing modeling in the lab: Uncertainty and measurement %B 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College %C College Park, MD %P 44-47 %S BFY Conference %8 July 22-24 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13803&DocID=4223

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